Latch.



W. H. APPLEBY.

LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17,- 1912.

1,069,753. Patented Aug-12, 1913.

Mrkwiaafa' ATTGR/VE).

WILLIAM H. APPLEBY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Application filed June 17, 1912. Serial No. 704,070.

To allavhom 2'75 may concern:

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM II. APPLEBY, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches, of which the following, when taken in connection with the drawing accompanying and forming a part hereof, is a full and complete description, sufHcient to enable those skilled in the art to which it pertains to understand,

make, and use the same.

This invention relates to latches which are used principally on vehicle doors, particularly on automobiles.

The objects of the invention are to obtain a device which can be used as a right hand or a left hand latch, a device which may be used with a knob, or with a lever, to operate it; and a device which may be used with a lever only.

Further objects are to obtain a device which is not expensive to make, which is simple in construction, durable, and not liable to get out of order.

In the drawing Figure l is a front elevation of a device embodying the principal features of the invention. Fig. 2 is a section, on line 22 of Fig. 1, viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 3 is a per spective of the longitudinally movable bolt of the device which is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4; is a perspective view of one part of the two part casing of the device. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a device embodying the invention, with one part of the casing and the knob or handle of the casing removed, to expose the working parts to View. Fig. 6 is a perspective of the part of the casing which is removed in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a perspective of the latch shown in Fig. 5. And Fig. 8 is an elevation of the lever of the device.

A reference letter applied to designate a given part is used to indicate said part throughout the several figures of the draw- TA. is the shell or casing of the device, and comprises part a, a and rivet a.

B is the latch of the device. The width of latch B, (on line b of Fig. 3) is slightly less than the distance between the sides of part a of easing A, so that said latch may move freely, longitudinally, in said part a. Said part a as thus constructed forms the guide to latch B, as well as a cover holding said latch in place.

Part a of the casing A is provided with the aperture C (Fig. 4) through which rivet d extends when the parts a, a are as sembled, and the part a of the case is provided with a like aperture C, (Fig. 5) for said rivet. Part a is also provided with the recesses D, D, to admit of the insertion therethrough of the lever J, hereinafter described. Said part a is also provided with lugs E, E, which fit into corresponding apertures in the upturned end a of the part a of the casing A. Part a is also provided with recess F to permit the retraction of latch B, by the admission of part G of said latch in said recess. Latch B is provided with the lugs H, H.

I is a spring yieldingly holding the latch B in an advanced position.

J is a lever which is fulcrumed on screw K.

7c, 76 are screw threaded apertures in part a of the casing A. The screw threaded part of the bolt K fits the screw threads of apertures 7c and 7s, and the said bolt is screwed tightly into the one of said apertures which is required to make a right or left hand latch, as desired, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth. Lever J is provided with the turned end j, at the free end thereof, and portions are removed therefrom, as indicated by the curved lines L, L, near the fulcrumed end thereof. In addition to the change in position of the lever J which is permitted by the apertures 70, 70, it may be turned so that the bend at the free end thereof is as indicated by the broken lines y" in Fig. 2, when inserted in position in the casing A, instead of as is shown by full lines in said figure.

When it is desired to construct the device so that the latch may be retracted by a knob as well as by movement of lever J, the latch B is provided with an aperture N and with shoulders P, P, and the parts a, a are re spectively provided with apertures in which the rocking part Q; is journaled. The aperture in which rocking part Q is journaled in part a of the casing is lettered O in Fig. 7, and the corresponding aperture in part a of the casing is opposite thereto when the device is assembled.

R represents a square spindle which passes through a corresponding aperture in rocking part The retraction of a latch by means of providing shoulders thereon corresponding to shoulders P, P, a rocking part Q engageable therewith, a square spindle and a knob on said spindle is common to latches of this description.

To assemble the device the latch B is placed on the part a of easing A, part Q,

where used, is put in place as illustrated in Fig. 5, and the spring I is mounted on rivet a, (said rivet having previously been se cured in part a), and the part a is secured in place by inserting the lugs E, E, in the apertures therefor in the turned up end of part a and riveting'theend of rivet a in hole C. The lever J is then put through the recesses D, D, in thesides of part a of the casing, and between the latch B and part a of said casing. Bolt K is then screwed into aperture 70 or 7.3 as required, to form the fulcrum of said lever J. When thus assembled the spring I yieldingly holds the latch B in the position in which it is illus-- trated in Figs. 1 and 5, with lug H on said latch pressing against said lever J, so that no rattling of said latch or lever will occur. The cutting away of a portion of the said lever J, as indicated by lines L is to prevent said lever from coming in contact with lug II when the latch B is advanced, or with the end of recess D, at said time.

To operate the latch, that is to retract the latch against the resiliency of the spring I, it is simply necessary to move lever J from the position which is illustrated in full lines in Fig. 1, to the position which is indicated by broken lines in said figure. Upon releasing the lever J the spring I will return said lever and latch B to the position in which they are shown in said Fig. 1.

The rocking part Q forms a right and left hand latch of the device when a -handle or knob is mounted on the square spindle It; andthe lever J makes a right or left hand latch of the device according to whether itis inserted first in recess D, or in recess D; (that is, whether the bolt K is screwed into aperture 70 or 70).

I claim In a latch comprising a casing provided with slots on the upper and lower sides thereof, a longitudinally movable bolt provided with lugs positioned adjacent to said slots, and a spring adapted to advance said bolt and yieldingly hold it in an advanced position, the combination of a fulcrum at tachable to said casing in a plurality of positions and a lever mounted on said fulcrum to extend through said slots, said lever p'rovided with recesses positioned on its edges, near said fulcrumed end and in said lower slot to prevent said lever coming in contact with the forward end of said lower slot, to prevent said lug which is adjacent to said lower slot coming in contact with said lever, to permit said lever to come in contact with the forward end of said upper slot and to permit said lug which is adjacent to said upper slot to come in contact with said lever. v I v WILLIAM H. APPLEBY. In the presence of JOHN G. GILL, CHARLES TURNER BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissione'r of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

